Good Girls Go Bad
by Madi Ennelyn Stone
Summary: Max's attempt at figuring out her Ella's odd behavior only lands her in the midst of the most popular people in school, including Fang, the bad boy with a past. Now that she's sucked into a world of parties, booze, drugs, and secrets, will she able to help Ella, or is she too far down the rabbit hole? And can she win over Fang before the queen bee does? No wings, Fax, Eggy!
1. The Contagion Of Corruption

**~ Author's Note ~**

**Hello lovelies! It's me, Madi. I have tried to get a good story up here before but due to work, dance, college and high school all mixing together I was having a tough time staying focused. But this time I have come prepared- with a bag of croutons and sparkling water to keep me company! So, hopefully, I will be able to begin writing again, as I have missed it very much. Hope you guys enjoy!**

***Warning***

**This fic will feature semi-sexual scenes, drugs, alcohol, strong language and various other themes not suited for the younguns' on the website. So, if you are still young and innocent, you may want to leave. The rest of ya filthy animals, stay tuned.**

***Disclaimer***

**Max nor Fang nor any other recognizable Maximum Ride characters belong to me. In my dreams, maybe, but not here. Thanks, Mr. Patterson, for letting me borrow them for this journey.**

* * *

_Chapter One: The Contagion of Corruption_

When I was younger, I was scared of the dark. Terrified, actually. My mind would never stop creating endless possibilities of what was hiding there- so, scratch that, I wasn't scared of the dark, but what might be_ in_ the dark. It was because I didn't know. I couldn't tell. I wasn't able to see what was there and would always assume the worse. Humans have a tendency to be afraid of what they don't know.

But in this situation, I was calm, because I knew _exactly _who was making the almost but not quite silent steps towards me in the blackness.

I clicked on the flashlight in my hand and shone in towards the direction of the noise.

"Agh!"

The circle of light revealed my assumption to be correct. It was Ella, my little sister, her black hair straightened to perfection and her eyes coated in smokey makeup that squinted against the brightness.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" I asked accusingly, putting on my stern voice that was usually pretty damn good at intimidating people.

Sadly, it didn't work, because a lifetime of growing up with me had given her immunity. "What the hell do you think _you're _doing, Max? Get that light out of my face!" She hissed in an angry whisper. It was close to eleven o' clock- and God forbid she wake up our mom right now. She and I both knew she would be dead, quiet literally. Extreme irritation after being woken up ran in our whole family, and that condition might be amplified if she caught Ella trying to sneak out right now.

"You're grounded, Ella! I'm not going to let you go run off and do whatever ridiculous shit you've been doing! Be happy it's me sitting here and not mom. Go back to bed!" I clicked the flashlight off, and instead reached over to turn on the living room lamp. It basked us in a dim orange glow, and allowed me a better look at her. Or, rather, her clothing. "And what is that?!" I added, disturbed.

She pulled at the hem of a piece of cloth, that more closely resembled the length of a headband than a skirt. She began to blush, as well. Or maybe that was just the layers of makeup caked onto her skin. "I'm going to a party. I got dressed up. Now can you move out of my way, Max?"

"No." I said simply. "May I remind you of the four classes you're failing? And I know you've been leaving the house every weekend for the past four of five weeks. You're not as sneaky as you think."

"You're my sister. I don't recall that giving you any permission to pry into my business." She made a move to leave, but I stood to block the exit. "Why, do you need something to blackmail me with? What do you want?"

"I have every right to do what I'm doing. I thought maybe setting a good example for you would be enough, but apparently not."

We held eye contact for a long moment, her glaring, and me returning it. She did not blink or flinch. I thought of what led us up to this moment. I had been such a good kid- the most trouble I had ever been was loosing my temper in class and yelling at some kid, but it was usually because they deserved it for being an idiot. But Ella was a different story. It seemed like she had been grounded for over seven months now for bad grades, skipping school, sneaking out and other various things. Which normally wouldn't bother me. Teenagers will be teenagers, I knew that. But she was doing it _so much._ And all the while, she had been acting really weird lately. Like the kind of weird that made you scared. I needed to know what was going on.

A faint honk of a car interrupted my thoughts.

More irritation set on Ella's face, because she knew exactly what was about to happen next.

"Oh, so you have a ride. Awesome. Mind if I go say hi?"

"Max, stop-"

But I did not listen, and turned to open the door. I stormed outside in a flurry of messy hair and sweatpants. There was in a fact a car outside, playing music with the window rolled down. I heard the sound of laughter from a guy.

"Ella, you aren't actually wearing that out tonight, are you?"

"Bro, that isn't Ella, dude, drive off, come on, it might be her mom-"

Before whoever the driver was had time to press on the gas pedal, though, I stuck my head in through the passenger window.

"I don't know _who _you kids are, but my sister is _not_ going out with you tonight." I spat, eyebrows knit together in anger.

"Uh, why not?"

There were three people in the car. The driver, a blond haired kid; a blond girl seated in the passenger seat; and in the back, a dark haired boy. It took me a moment to realize it was _that _dark haired boy. Fang. He showed up to my classes every once in awhile, probably managing to scrape up a D+ or C- grade, tops. He had a bad reputation, badder than most, and the thought of my sister sneaking off with him only ignited more fury in me. I made sure to make eye contact with each one of them, sending the best glare I could.

"Because she's not an idiot like you guys. And-"

I didn't have time to say anything else, though. Ella's laughter sounded from behind me.

"Just pull her in through the window, you guys, let's take her for a trip!"

They registered what she had said faster than I did, and before I knew it, multiple pairs of hand were pulling at me from the inside and Ella's own hands pushing me in. I let out a yelp, trying to flail about, but it was pointless- I had flopped awkwardly into the front seat of the car, legs on the blond girl and my head in the lap of the blond boy. The sounds of their maniac-like laughter mixed with the heavy electronic music playing quietly, until the driver turned that up and sped away from our house.

I was in shock, mouth agape.

Ella was in the backseat now, and began pulling me to sit by her in the car. I was quick to scramble back there out of fear for getting in a car accident- he was not by _any _means a good driver, at all. They were going way too fast. Thank god it was late, or there would've been more cars on the road and more potential obstacles.

I turned to meet Ella in the eye, my mouth still open. She was laughing like I hadn't seen her laugh in a long time.

"Sorry, Max. You didn't give me another option. Now try to enjoy your night, will ya?"


	2. A Little Party Never Killed Nobody

**~ Author's Note ~**

**Aw! Thank you Kate and winniethepoowho. The reason I have abandoned previous stories is because I never got any reviews or anything, and the lack of support was a little discouraging- so thank you so much! Reviews are really helpful and do appreciate them, a lot. Wink wink so, yeah, if you're enjoying this or would like to leave some constructive criticism, that would be great. (; On to chapter two!**

**ALSO! Note! For the purposes of this fic, Iggy will not be blind!**

***Disclaimer***

**Max nor Fang nor any other recognizable Maximum Ride characters belong to me. In my dreams, maybe, but not here. Thanks, Mr. Patterson, for letting me borrow them for this journey.**

* * *

_Chapter Two: A Little Party Never Killed Nobody_

The worst kind of hatred you can have is hatred for your family. Because as much as you would like to strangle them, put a knife to their throat and/or commit other various forms of violence, you knew you loved them too God damn much to do anything.

It took me awhile to realize my mouth was still agape in shock and anger. I finally closed it when I realized my tongue was bone dry and beginning to get sore. The sounds of bad music and laughter blurred around me, mixed together like bad a drink and poured into my ears like poison. I cannot believe her. I _cannot believe her._

Ella, seeming to now be in a cheery mood that I had not seen in a long time, tapped me on the shoulder.

"Since you will be joining us for the night, I would like to introduce you to my friends. You probably know Fang, he's in your grade."

She waited for me to say something, but I kept my mouth shut in irritation and gave her a look that said 'why should I care'. Or maybe it looked more like 'you're so dead when we get home'. Or maybe even 'I'm going to put bleach in your cereal tomorrow morning so I don't have to deal with you anymore'. Hopefully she got the gist of it.

She laughed, still immune to any form of intimidation. "And that's my friend Michaila. And Iggy, driving."

Iggy glanced into his rear view mirror, trying to get my attention.

"You're Max, right? Hey, I promise we haven't been corrupting your sister. In fact, she's more the one corrupting _us, _but-"

"Just shut it."

He snickered, and went back to keeping his eyes on the road. Thank god. I was clutching the fabric of the seat for dear life, my back rigid with anxiety. I hated cramped places. _Hated _them. This was just about as bad as it got. I was going to ask where they planned on taking us, and how far away it was, until he finally slowed down to probably around ten miles per hour above the speed limit, and then-

_Squeeeaaak!_

I went flying forward, my head whipping in a way that most likely could have given me whiplash, and then retracted back into the seat.

"We're here!"

We had pulled up in front of small house with too many cars parked outside, and flashing colored lights coming out of the windows and spraying across the yard. Oh boy. It wasn't like I hadn't been to parties before. I had- but that was back during my freshman year mostly. As I mentioned before, I hate cramped places about as much as Ella apparently hates clothing her legs. And more often than not, my school's parties were in tiny places holding twice their capacity of people. It wasn't my scene. And definitely not a scene I wanted Ella in- no _way_ was I going to let my sister end up in those unflattering and incriminating pictures all over Facebook. I debated grabbing her arm and dragging her back to the house now, but we had driven for awhile and I had no idea where we were. Dammit. Plus, I was outnumbered, and this group had proved they weren't as opposed to kidnapping as one would have guessed.

Everyone was getting out of the car. Opening the doors just revealed more too-loud music coming from the house. Ella hesitated a second, waiting for her friends to hop out. She turned to me, her face suddenly void of all the earlier cheeriness.

"Please, Max. I'm just asking you this one time. Let me have a good night. Please. All I'm asking of you."

She waited again for me to say anything. I closed my eyes, taking in a deep breath and exhaling slowly.

"Okay, Els." I used her nickname from our childhood. "But you have to promise this is the last time. You have other things to focus on."

"Yeah, I promise-"

There was a loud knock on the window behind her. It was Iggy, a large grin displayed on his face. He was beckoning wildly.

"Come on, hurry up! I need to lock the car!"

Ella looked at me while opening the door and mouthed a 'thank you'. I just shook my head back in annoyance. We got out of the car, the cool night air blowing against the skin revealed by my tank top. I thought of how Ella must be fairing, in her three sizes too small shirt and ten sizes too small skirt. At least I had sweatpants on.

Then, after a quick look around, that proved to be a bad thing.

All of the girls making their way inside were dressed up. Skirts, dresses, or a decent pair of jeans in some cases- also, lots of overly nice jewelry and done up hair. I could smell the two hundred dollar perfume from here, and hear the clicking of heels and wedges on pavement.

I looked back down at my own outfit.

Stained sweatpants and a tank top with, oh please god help me, no bra. Not to mention the not-so clean hair knotted into an awful bun behind my head.

Well, shit.

I'm usually not a self conscious person, but this was bad. _Really bad._ I went to school with all these people, and even though I try play it like I really didn't care about what they thought about me, there was a small part of me that did. I blushed, opting to stay in the car while they did their thing, but a cold hand grabbed my wrist gently.

"Come on. Just relax."

I turned to see who it was. Fang. He had a little smirk on his face, his brown eyes gleaming in this street lamp. I never really had gotten a good look at him before, since he rarely did come to class. I had a fleeting thought, suddenly understanding why so many girls worshiped him at school, and why guys envied him. I held eye contact for a second too long and then looked away, embarrassed. I yanked my arm away, cursing myself for letting my older sister defense down for a moment, and reminding myself why I should not like him or make any attempt to be friends with him. He was the school's stereotypical 'bad boy', who had somehow gotten involved my baby sister. Just because he was cute did not earn him any respect.

"Yeah, whatever."

I followed him up the stair way to the house, my heart thumping anxiously. As soon as the door opened, my heart dropped.

Have you ever seen the music video to Asher Roth's "I Love College"?

Red Solo cups littered the ground, and where there weren't cups there were people dancing in ways that would probably give any person over the age of 50 a heart attack. The sight spewed another wave of protectiveness into me, but by the time I spotted Ella, she was already being pulled into the crowd by Iggy.

I pondered over if her change in mood recently was because of him, and if the reason she was sneaking out was to see him. If it was just a crush, then that was fine. I hoped to god that was all it was... These past few months she had been quiet and easily irritated, sleeping in too much, dark circles always under her eyes. But, that didn't seem like the actions of a hormone ridden girl. My eyebrows pressed together again. Then what was it?

A tap on the shoulder knocked me out of my thoughts. I turned to see the blond girl, Michaila.

"Hey, if you're worried about your sister, just chill. She's fine. She knows her limits as far as booze goes and Iggy is a good dude. He'll keep an eye on her." She smiled, obviously trying to appear as friendly as possible.

I sighed again. Maybe she was right. Maybe I needed to let go- only for the moment, of course, because tomorrow morning I would have a _long_ chat about what her priorities should be. But for now I could let her have fun. She wouldn't listen to me if I embarrassed her tonight.

"Yeah, I got it. It's hard though." I replied. "Our mom is pretty clueless most of the time and I feel like it's my job now to keep track of her."

"Well..." Michaila reached into her purse, pulling out a see through glass bottle. Vodka. Oh joy. "Help ease the nerves for the time being?"

I hesitated. The first and last time I had drank was freshman year at a keg where I had one too many beers and was hungover for what seemed like weeks. My mom hadn't found out; I passed it off as stomach flu and then vowed never to make the same mistake again.

"Oh, what the hell."

I took the bottle from her, twisting the cap off and chugging a decent amount of the liquid before thinking better of it. I gagged on the bitter, unnatural taste that heated my throat and stomach. It reminded me of those hours I spent hunched over my toilet back home. I tried to ignore it though- despite how puke inducing it was.

She laughed.

"Alright! Thata girl, there you go!"

"Michaila!"

We both turned to the voice.

A thin girl in a leather jacket and blue dress came bouncing up to us. She had thick, curly red hair. Lissa. I knew her. She was one of the more 'popular' girls, if you believed in the hierarchy of high school. I didn't pay much attention to that stuff, though, never interested in who dated who and who dumped who. It was pointless.

But Michaila squealed in response to her friend. She was probably the type that did care- they both hugged each other, squealing in excitement. I observed them fangirl over each other, not knowing what to do, their excited babble a way too fast drone in my ear. I debated walking away, but it wasn't like I had any other person to talk to. Finally, Michaila seemed to realize she had left me hanging.

"Oh! I'm sorry. Max, this is Lissa, Lissa, this is Max."

She stuck her hand out formally to shake it.

"Hi, Max. It's good to meet you."

"Yeah, it's good to meet you, too."

The awkward tension in my gut loosened then- the affect of the alcohol spreading through me. I smiled, feeling myself open up. It was like liquid courage.

"So, I have my history class with you, right?" I asked, smiling, forcing myself to settle into this situation.

"Yeah! Have you seen how much make up she wears? It, like, gets stuck in her wrinkles! It's nasty."

More laughter.

Maybe tonight wouldn't be so bad.

ooooo~*~*~ooooo

Max was across the room, chatting and laughing with Lissa and Michaila. Huh. He wondered when that had happened. She was so quiet and... _ordinary_ in class usually, and didn't seem the type to hang out with the popular girls. But that didn't matter.

Someone tapped him on the shoulder. It was Ella.

She was the one that mattered. His money supply.

"Do you have some?" She asked, almost under her breath, her voice nearly drowned by the music.

He smirked at her.

"Of course, doll. Let's go to the bathroom real quick. Meet me in two minutes so no one sees, okay?"

She nodded. "And please don't let Iggy know. Okay? Things are going so well."

He just shook his head slightly. Her personal life was not what he was interested in, either. Little mattered to him. Cash and a good night was all that mattered. He walked away, careful to slip in through the bathroom door when no one was eyeing him. Not that anyone cared- for all they knew, he was just another drunk guy needing to piss or puke.

Now that he had some privacy, he slipped the small clear bag from his pocket. It was full of white powder, gleaming like a thousand tiny little crystals.

Ella would definitely be having a _lovely _night.


	3. Every Girl's Dream

**~ Author's Note ~**

**Man these reviews are so lovely! You're all lovely people! Ah thank you so much, let's just have a lovely love fest. **

**Anyway. Chapter three, I'm feeling motivated by you guys so I'm gonna keep on writing. Your continuing support will always help me get chapters up quicker! (; Just a reminder that this story has a lot of drug and alcohol use- and no, it's not glorifying the experiences. I'm writing based off my own experiences, and as a reminder to why I quite that scene. So please be understanding if you are offended. I grew up with a lot of issues that I would try and solve the way Ella is solving them. But I have since then fixed my actions and chose writing instead. Blah blah, end life rant there. Anyway. Enjoy!**

***Disclaimer***

**Max nor Fang nor any other recognizable Maximum Ride characters belong to me. In my dreams, maybe, but not here. Thanks, Mr. Patterson, for letting me borrow them for this journey.**

* * *

_Chapter Three: Every Girl's Dream_

"Hey, I have to go find Ella."

I didn't wait for an answer, but instead walked away quickly. Shit. I had forgot about her for the moment. Shit, shit, shit, it was my job to keep track of her. I had gotten too caught up in the conversation with those girls.

Maybe I had had a few too many drinks.

The world was beginning to spin around me, the walls gliding back and forth against the ceiling and floor, all of it blending into this mess of a room I did not understand. Where was I going? I had been with Lissa, the popular girl I never would have imagined myself with, and Miranda, no... Shayla? No. What was her name? I didn't know. Doesn't matter. Anyway, I was with them a second ago. And then I had left... to do what? I pressed my hand to my temple, trying to steady things, but instead tripped over my toes and nearly knocked into something in front of me.

Rather, some_one. _

The person turned, catching my shoulders before I fell face first into the floor. My vision steadied enough to recognize his face.

"_You!" _I said accusingly, pointing a finger in his face and wagging it like he was a disobedient dog. "The evil one! The one dragging my sister to hell!"

Fang laughed nervously, glancing behind him. He had a group of girls around him, all looking at me like_ I _was a dog. A wet one. A wet dog that smelled bad. Or something. Was I embarrassing him? I faintly remembered what I was wearing for a moment- the dirty sweatpants. That's right. I let myself care for about a second before forgetting again. "Did somebody have a couple too many shots?" He asked, looking me up and down as if to access my sobriety.

"Maybe. How would you know? S'not like you're in our math class like... ever." My words slurred together and I raised a hand to his shoulder to steady myself.

That little smirk crept over his face. "I can do math. And anything over six shots is too many."

"Haha. Funny. You must charm _all_ the girls."

"The ones I feel like charming."

I narrowed my eyes, trying to come up with a response, but then hiccuped. A nasty one.

Oh no.

Fang's amused smile turned to concern.

"Are you okay?"

I shook my head.

"Hey, one second, you guys. I'll be back in a minute." He said to his posse behind him, and then facing me again.

"I don't feel good." I said simply, waving between my two feet. How did people balance? It was like I had forgotten how to- my weight shifted from foot to foot, the world spinning around me faster and faster.

"Yeah, it looks like you're about to puke. Come on. Let's get you to bathroom."

He wrapped his arm around my waist, and began to pull me through the crowd moving together to the music. I was very thankful for his guidance. I no doubt would have gotten lost in this maze of people- it was all very disorienting, the flashing lights and colors blurring my vision. I hiccuped again, my stomach churning and tying knots, reminding me of that one night freshman year. My head was a flood of thoughts, all mixing together but never focusing. I closed my eyes, let myself be led by Fang and tried to focus on one thing.

He smelled good, like nice conditioner and deodorant. I was very aware of him next to me, his heat radiating from his clothing onto me. Who knew mister dark and mysterious would be so caring?

_Just let him take you. It's fine. Deep breaths. _

But this time, instead of hiccuping, I gagged, the bile rising in my throat.

"Hurry." Was all I could say, knowing what was about to come next.

"Yo! Get outta here, we have a sick girl!" Fang said, banging on the door with his fist. The bathroom was locked. Shit, this is _not _what I wanted. This is why I didn't want to come. It was such a mistake, _shit, shit, shit. _My head was beginning to throb and I could feel my stomach heaving.

Finally, the door opened, and a tall guy came out. He was beefy, lots of muscle, and was blocking our entrance.

I felt Fang tense up next to me.

"Hi. Can you move now?" He said, clutching me tighter to him as I stumbled a bit. The guy didn't move.

"I would, if you got out of my _way._" The guy said. His voice was deep, and he returned Fang's irritation.

Fang pulled us both aside, and the guy took off quickly.

"Prick." He mumbled under his breath, but pushed me inside. I was about to ask who that was, but the vodka was ready to make its second appearance, and it didn't want to wait a second longer. I stumbled forward onto my knees and immediately began retching into the toilet. It was a horrible mix of stomach acid and booze.

"Ella, what were you doing in here with _him?" _I heard Fang ask accusingly, as he knelt down beside me to pull my hair back.

Ella! Right! I was supposed to look for her. Well, mission accomplished, sort of. I turned my head slightly to see her sitting on the edge of the bathtub. "Hi, sis." I was able to get that out before another wave of nausea hit me and put me face first into the toilet again.

"Hi, Max. And nothing. Not what you think we were doing. Don't worry about it. Is she okay?" She responded quickly, and sniffed. She sounded kind of... off. She seemed nervous. But my own brain let go of that thought, drowning it with thousand of others that were lost in my intoxicated mind.

There was silence for a moment. I stayed right where I was, waiting to see if there any more to get out. Fang's hands were still behind me, holding back all the loose strands that had escaped my bun. I thought of how this was probably every girl's dream- to be this close and touching him. Maybe not in my exact situation, but still. I was semi-shocked that I was here. Never did I think he would help me out like this, let alone say a word to me.

"Yeah, she's... fine. But you guys should probably go home now."

The anger in Fang's voice was unmistakable. Ella was about to say something in protest, but Fang cut her off.

"I mean, maybe I could ask Iggy and he see what _he _thinks about you in the bathroom with him..." His voice was threatening. "Or maybe you can go home now. Your sister is sick. I think you've _both _had your fun for the night"

"Amen to that. I'm done. Ella, please, let's go now." I responded, confused on the tension between them, but focusing on getting the rest of the contents of my stomach out. After another minute, I felt much better, my stomach finally settled a little bit. I flushed the toilet, spit one more time to get that nasty taste out of my mouth, and got up slowly to go towards the sink for a drink of water.

I took a look at her. Her eyes were wide open. She sniffed again. Her eyes were locked with Fang's, almost like they were having a staring contest, or a stare down. Finally, she broke it off.

"I'll go find Iggy and Michaila." Ella said, standing up to leave the bathroom. She seemed irritated, but did not argue. "I'll meet you outside in five minutes."

After she left, Fang sighed.

"Here, let's go get breath of air. You okay to walk?"

"Yeah, I am." I wiped my mouth and cleared my throat. "Can I ask what that was about?" I asked.

"No. Yes. Maybe. I don't know. Don't worry about it. It's probably nothing."

I waited for more, but he was silent. Instead, we both made our way through the house once more to leave. Any form of cheeriness had vanished. Seeing whoever that guy was had ruined his mood.

Outside was cold, colder than I remembered, but it felt good. There had been too many sweaty bodies in there, and it didn't help with my sickness. Fang shut the door behind him. It muffled the noise from inside. He slipped a small pack out of his coat pocket, took a cigarette out, and then passed the pack to me with one eyebrow raised.

"Uh. No thank you." I said, making a disgusted face.

He let out a small laugh. I would have called it a giggle, but Fang didn't giggle. Because he was... Fang. Too masculine for that. But then he let out another puff of a cigarette, a focused and concerned look settling on his face.

"Why did you change your mind on letting Ella come here? Why not just tell your mom she's getting into trouble?" He asked seriously.

"Why should I answer your question if you won't answer mine?" I asked, bargaining for more information.

"Because it's not a big deal. Just don't worry."

"It's my sister."

He looked at me, eyes narrowed. "What do you want to know?"

"Who that guy was. Why does it matter to you or Iggy if Ella's with him?"

"It's... nothing. Seriously. He's just a dick and I don't want her around him."

I let out a laugh. "You're acting like me."

He snorted back in response. "Maybe. Hopefully this was just a one time thing. Just don't worry about it. Now answer my question?"

I took in a deep breath and sighed. "Well... d'you have any younger siblings?"

He shook his head no, and let out a carcinogen-filled, grey cloud into the air.

"It's hard. You feel responsible for them. You don't want them to make any mistakes, because that was _your _job, as the prototype, to figure it out. But Ella... hasn't seemed happy for a long time. Something's off with her, and I don't know what. When I saw her smiling in the car, a part of me kind of clicked. Like I realized she might need this. God knows I don't want her involved with all of you hooligans doing who knows what, but..."

"If it makes her happy?"

I nodded. "Yeah."

Huh. I had shocked myself. I was being so honest with him. Maybe it was the vodka buzzing through me, but something had made me feel completely open. It felt good to get out there, though. He was surprisingly easy to talk to. I thought maybe he would more... intimidating.

He dropped the butt to the ground and stepped on it, and then stepped closer to me.

"Well, all I have to say is, keep a closer eye on her. She might need it."

I opened my mouth to ask what he meant, but just then the front door opened, and Iggy, Michaila and Ella walked out. Iggy had a stupid smile plastered on him.

"Yo, dude, give me the keys." Fang said, suddenly seeming much cheerier. Maybe he was faking it."No DUIs tonight, okay?"

Iggy laughed, letting the smell of alcohol on his breath out, and tossed them towards Fang. We made our way to the car, piled ourselves in, and took the route back home. Fang was a much better driver, not surprisingly. My opinion on him had changed. I realized that maybe there was more to him than I thought. I rested my head on the window, focusing on where the street met the sky, hoping to ease the nausea.

The car ride was short lived. We pulled up in front of our house sooner than I thought. Too bad. I had gotten so comfy, maybe I could just sleep in their car? In front of me, Iggy began to snore, apparently not the only one exhausted. Fang turned from the driver's seat to face us. Or, more specifically, Ella.

"Goodnight, Ella. I'll see you later." His voice was neutral but his face still held some anger towards her. His eyes flickered to me, then, the anger diminishing. "Goodnight, Max."

"Yeah, bye you guys." I said, sad to see Fang go. I would have liked to talk to him more, now that his personality was beyond all the rumors and gossip I had heard about him. Me and Ella got out of the car, shut the the door quietly, and waved goodbye one last time.

The door to our house was unlocked- we walked quietly through the house, more careful than ever not to wake the devil upstairs up.

"Goodnight, sis. You and I are going to have a long chat tomorrow morning, remember."

Ella snorted. "Hypocrite."

"You made me."

She just shook her head, and shut her bedroom door behind her.

I left to go to my own room. The familiarity of the place was nice, a safe haven for me. I climbed into bed slowly. Oh my god, it was comfier than I remembered. I was thankful for the feeling of blankets around me now, sleep already pulling my eyes shut.

Well, that had been fun.

Tomorrow morning would be hell.


	4. Spotlight, Part One

**~ Author's Note ~**

**Thanks to all who have shown their support! I'm honored. I appreciate every review you leave me, and would love to see some more. It keeps me motivated. (; I should be doing my US History homework, or sleeping, but chapter four is calling! This was originally a very long chapter, but it didn't really flow together well, so I broke it up into chapters four and five. Five will be up soon, promise. (: Please review if you have anything nice to say!**

***Disclaimer***

**Max nor Fang nor any other recognizable Maximum Ride characters belong to me. In my dreams, maybe, but not here. Thanks, Mr. Patterson, for letting me borrow them for this journey.**

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_Chapter Four: Spotlight, Part One_

Ella pulled the blankets around her tighter. Her room was cold, colder than it should have been. She look to the window- oh. She had forgotten to shut it. Earlier, before she left, she had tried to make her way through it. She was on the first floor of the house, and it would have been quieter to go through her backyard and jump a fence than to go out the front way. The window had been jammed, though, so that it couldn't open past four or five inches. The more Ella thought about it, the more convinced she was that it had been Max in an attempt to stop her. God dammit.

Cursing the frozen air, Ella shed the blankets and went to close it. She was more irritated than she would have been under normal circumstances. She was coming down from her earlier high, the euphoria gone, and now replaced with emptiness and a craving for more. She wouldn't get any money till next Friday, though, and she would have to tough out another week of school until then. She sighed, pressing her palms to her temple in an attempt to rub out some stress. It didn't work. She slammed the window shut, angry now, and threw herself back into bed.

_Pzzt pzzt._

A faint light lit up the room, emanating from her phone on the dresser. She reached for it, curious as to who it was.

_"Iggy(:" _was written across the screen. She opened the text up.

_hey babe. bummed to see you go, wish i was with ya. wanna come out 2morrow night?_

She smiled to herself. He was one person who managed not to make her hate everything and anything. They weren't officially together, but it was close enough, and she felt blessed for that. His presence in her life was one of two things that could light a small amount of happiness in her.

_i would but i don't know. max caught me. i mean, i changed her mind and she came with us tonight but who knows, she probably wont let me out again._

The happiness diminished a bit when she thought about it. She would have to face their little 'chat' tomorrow morning too, which was the last thing she wanted.

_lol wont let you out? shes not your mom, its not of her business. tell her to screw off._

_Amen to that, _Ella thought. It _wasn't_ her business. What did it matter to her what she did in her free time? Ella was her own person, and genuinely believed she should be left to do what she wants, especially since Max didn't understand. Max wasn't 'popular'. She wasn't uncool or anything, but she wasn't exactly _noticed_ at school, either. She hung out one or two other people at lunch, did her homework every school night and would maybe go see a movie on the weekend.

This couldn't be farther from Ella's status and lifestyle. She was a year younger than Max, in eleventh grade, but had managed to befriend most of the senior class anyway. She was friends with people like Lissa, Michaila and Iggy- the people that everybody knew. They went out, they partied, they gave people stories to tell on Monday at school. Max didn't know what it was like to be in the spotlight. She didn't understand that having an older sister babying you every second of your life was embarrassing as hell.

Sighing, she typed out her reply. _yeah yeah, i know. hey have to go to bed, but i'll text you later, k? sleep tight. _She added a few more emoticons of kissey faces and hearts.

_ok night babe. :x_

Ella sighed. Thinking about Max acting like a parent had reminded her of someone else.

Fang. If Max was acting like a mom, Fang was acting like a dad. Why did it matter to _him_ what Ella was doing? She knew why he was mad, of course, but wished that he would just get _over_ it. Fang hated Ella's dealer, Ari. They had used to be best friends before Ari had dropped out two years ago, making his money off of selling his various 'goods'. Sure, these 'goods' were far from good, and illegal in every way, but it wasn't like Fang didn't do illegal things, too. He partied, he drank, and he was being a complete hypocrite to tell Ella that what she was doing was bad. And just because the two of them had had some drama awhile ago didn't give Fang a reason to ban her from Ari, as well.

He had used a dirty trick earlier. Ella and Fang both knew Iggy would be _beyond_ upset if he found out what she had been doing- so threatening Ella with that was an effective, but very annoying, tactic. She wondered what else he was going to blackmail her with. No doubt, Ella would have to start being sneakier about getting what she wanted from Ari.

She sighed for what seemed like the millionth time that night. Sleep would do her good. The come down wouldn't be so bad, and facing Max's wrath tomorrow morning would be easier if she was well rested. She prayed for a miracle of more money, and for Max and Fang to stop annoying her, before rolling over and closing her eyes to drift off to sleep.

She didn't, and probably never would, understand the big deal about doing cocaine.


End file.
